Prosecutor condemns animal cruelty convict

Fernando German Benitez, the Delegate for the Environment in the Malaga Prosecutor’s Office, has described to one publication the impact of working on the case of Carmen Marin, the former president of Parque Animal in Torremolinos.

The lawyer explained, “there are cases that particularly haunt you, and this is one of them not only because of the harshness of the images and testimonies, but because it is unimaginable that there are people who have that degree of dehumanisation. It is almost incredible that someone who promotes themselves publicly as a benefactor of animals has complete contempt for animal suffering and for purely economic reasons cruelly killed hundreds of animals.”

The news comes after Ms Marin asked for her prison sentence to be suspended due to psychiatric problems.

A judge will now decide whether Ms Marin’s claims of depression, anxiety and health problems are enough to see her avoid jail after she was sentenced to almost four years for animal cruelty and fraud.

Ms Marin had been given five days to voluntarily present herself to prison, however her lawyers have now presented evidence of their client’s psychological issues, as well as her fibromyalgia, cataract and neurological disorder. Although they recognise none of these “represent an imminent risk to life.” Ms Marin’s defence instead claims her issues are “incompatible with prison life.”

Parque Animal was run from 1998 to 2010 by the accused, until she was convicted after Guardia Civil officers found the bodies of dozens of animals in rubbish bins and freezers. At her trial, the judge found Marin had made a “lucrative” business out of the charity, which benefitted from zero tax, and carried out “culling sessions” on a “massive and unjustified” scale. Marin also faced further charges of using the charity’s money to fund luxury travel, restaurant trips and cars.

At her latest trial, the judge said he believed Parque Animal paid out €104,382 to department stores, using the funds to reform and decorate her daughter’s beauty centre. Marin was also accused of using public funds to pay for a lift in one of her buildings, supermarket purchases and car rental, after receiving tens of thousands of Euros from the council.